The earliest citation for this phrase in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language comes from John Galt’s Annals of the Parish (1821): “To admonish the bride and bridegroom to ca canny”. It is defined as “to proceed warily, to be moderate”.
Later, it appeared in a political coinage quoted in the Glasgow Herald (1921): “Mr Ramsay MacDonald recommends ‘a magnificently organised system of passive resistance,’ which, plainly interpreted by his followers, means Ca-cannyism”.
Moderation in all things is, of course, sound advice. Here is some from Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay’s Forever Yours Marie-Lou (1994): “Ye should caw canny oan the breid, no eat sae much ae it …".
Found in the Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech comes more sage advice from Michael Hamish Glen in his The lassies tak the bannock, O! (1995): “Fur, gin yer fere’s John Barleycorn, Ca canny, fur he’ll nirl yer horn”.
The Aiberdeenshire Bairns an Young Fowk’s Chairter (Banff Academy, 2020) has this at number 4: “Ca canny judging fowk. Thole us. Unnerstan far we’re comin fae an fit we hae experienced. Realise that wi aa mak mistakes…”
This warning about over-watering plants appeared in the Aberdeen Evening Express (2021): “Keep them in good light and in temperatures above 5°C… From time to time they may need to be watered but ca’ cannie!”.
And finally, from Robbie Shepherd’s Doric Column in the Press and Journal (2023): “Gang canny throwe this world o’oors An tak yer steps wi care, An nivver do yer neighbours wrang, But aye do what is fair.”
Scots Word of the Week comes from Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Visit DSL Online at https://dsl.ac.uk.
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